


Ink Beneath Our Skin

by PatchworkIdeas



Series: WinterFRE 2020 [22]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Magical Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22939792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PatchworkIdeas/pseuds/PatchworkIdeas
Summary: Kili always knew who would be the first - and only - artist to ever touch his skin.
Relationships: Fíli/Kíli (Tolkien)
Series: WinterFRE 2020 [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604650
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27
Collections: GatheringFiKi - Winter FRE 2020





	Ink Beneath Our Skin

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Prompts:
> 
> 48: Doing/Designing (each other’s) tattoos 
> 
> 86: The tattoo was elaborate, with clever use of shadow to make the wings look almost real. And then one of them moved…

“You know you could have one of the masters make your tattoo.”

Kili looked at his brother, but Fili wasn’t looking at him, preoccupied with preparing his equipment.

“I want yours. No one elses. And honestly, I have seen your work - you are a master in your own right!” Kili stated, demonstratively taking off his last layer and lying down on the bed.

That was, technically, a lie. Fili had an official license, yes, but he still worked under his masters eyes and only on clients that couldn’t pay full price. It gave more people access to their services, but came with risk of quality.  
No one had ever complained about Fili’s work though - quiet the opposite.

The problem was that Kili could pay, and being who we was, every master in the mountain was essentially posturing and fighting over who would get the right to mark him first.

Kili knew who it would be ever since Fili started his apprenticeship.  
Maybe even before that.

But it did mean they had to make do with their bedroom at home rather than a carefully sterilized and prepared room. Fili’s master would never let Fili do it, too hungry for another notch to add to his own achievements.

Fili wasn't entirely happy with Kili’s decision, wanting only the best for him.  
The original plan had been to wait until Fili had his own master status, could ink his masterworks into his brothers skin, let his love be there for all to see.  
But Kili had gotten his first assignment, and the tattoo couldn’t wait.

They had often talked about what motive or placement Kili would want, though that choice was also mostly taken out of his hands.

He needed what he needed, and while the masters would give him elaborate works of art, Fili saw so much more than just a famous canvas in him. He saw Kili, not just the second heir, or the newly appointed leader of the Raven Scouts.

Fili knew every inch of Kili’s skin, was more familiar with it than with his own even.  
This was mutual, of course. Not that anyone knew about it.  
Someday perhaps. If they played their cards right.

In the end, Kili laid still in their bed, while beloved hands painstakingly created magic on his back.

Kili had prepared himself for the pain, especially with their lack of access to safe tranquilizers, but Fili made it bearable, intent on his well-being as much as on his art taking shape on Kili’s body.

It was a dizzying thought. Fili was marking him. And while the thought of being marked by anyone else was almost nauseating, with Fili it brought him nothing but joy.  
Some even said that the first tattoo would bring with it a lifelong connection, something that couldn’t be lost.

That’s why Kili had made Fili’s first after all, even though he had no skill or training at all.

It was small, and while Kili had intended to hide it, Fili had been adamant.  
Kili had gotten into lots of trouble for it, extra studies and rights revoked for months, but it was still worth it.  
Even now, years later, Kili frequently saw his brother cradle his right hand and stroke over the simple rune that was inked into the palm of his hand.  
Everyone else thought it was an after effect of a blotched tattoo. 

They had to hide that Fili had asked Kili for it, just hours before his master marked him as his apprentice. Fili’s second tattoo was amazingly elaborate, a work of art, but they both loved the simple first letter of Kili’s name. Anything more had been impossible, especially in such a dangerous and unusual location for a tattoo.

Fili had told him once, hidden under sheets and curled around each other, that he touched it each time before he started anything, to invoke Kili’s presence, to have Kili with him even when they had to be apart.

Fili held Kili in the palm of his hand. No task, no battle, no art, was finished without Kili being a part of it.

Kili’s tattoo wasn’t magic.  
Except it was, in a way - just a different kind.

The hours didn’t fly by, and they couldn’t really talk, but Kili kept still, like he wouldn’t have for anyone else, and Fili kept working.

It took almost a full day.

Kili felt raw and jittery at the end, not used to being still for so long, but Fili looked worse. There were dark rings under his eyes, his complexion was sickly pale, and his breath rough, now that he wasn’t concentrating on it anymore. Kili took the trembling hands, so steady before, into his own and laid his forehead against Fili’s. They breathed like that, Kili giving and Fili accepting, until color slowly returned to Fili’s skin and his hands could grip Kili’s firmly, love pulsing between them as steady and sure as their combined heartbeat.

Kili wanted to pull him into bed, to rest together until their strength returned, but knew all to well that there would be no moving Fili until Kili had seen his brother’s work. So he helped him up, hiding the flinch when Fili’s weight on his other side pulled just that bit on his raw shoulder blade.  
It would take some time until he could move without pain. It was a good thing he had requested some leave to choose his artist carefully.  
Especially if his observation was correct.

It was. Fili warned him that he had only managed to finish one side. Normally tattoos were stronger if they were done in one go, but with how much Fili had poured into this one, that had been impossible. Still, with the motive it shouldn’t make too much of a difference. He would need two wings after all, and those could count as two different tattoos.

None of that prepared Kili for the sight when Fili aligned the mirrors in their bathroom so that Kili could see his back.  
His breath stilled in his lungs when he first saw it.  
His eyes followed the fine lines, admired the play of shadow and light, marveled at the softness of the feathers.

Kili breathed, and his wing moved with him.

It was mesmerizing how the breeze of his breath stirred the feathers, reactive to his slightest movement. It didn’t take more than a thought, not even a twitch of his fingers, to have the wing move, as if it longed to break free and carry him through the sky even without it’s twin. 

It was the most real tattoo he had ever seen, far beyond the work even masters did.  
Fili had poured not only his magic into Kili’s body; not only his love, though it sang from every line, from every touch, from every detail.  
Fili had poured his own soul into Kili’s body.

Nothing would ever separate them now.

The wing shuddered at his thoughts and Kili longed to touch it, to stroke every single feather, every small bit of fluff, feel it’s softness, embrace himself in Fili’s presence, inked forever in Kili’s skin.

The wing moved up, following his call, ready to break though his skin.

Fili stopped it.

It was just a touch, barely there, but the feel of Fili’s right hand on his new wing was ecstasy all the same.  
Kili breathed deep, reveled in the connection, their marks so close. He had no doubt that once his skin was healed enough for actual touch, they would explore this in more detail. 

Their eyes met in the mirror, and Kili was stuck speechless by the warmth in Fili’s eyes, the soft smile, how happy he looked despite his exhaustion. Kili could feel the love radiating from him, his shoulder warm, not even the pain breaking through the feeling.

But Fili was still exhausted, and right as well. As much as he wished to explore his new wing and every detail, everything Fili had done, now was not the time for it. If he called the single wing early, it might not work as well with it’s twin.

Reluctantly he turned away from the mirror, only to hug Fili close, breathing him in. There were no words between them, for no words would ever be enough for this.

Fili carefully kept his hands away from Kili’s shoulders, but warmth flooded from it just the same, as much as from the hands resting on the small of his back.

A yawn broke the spell, and Kili found himself echoing it, both of them laughing and stepping back, ready to fall into bed. Fili swiftly added some gauze over the wing, both to allow Kili to sleep more comfortably and to prevent the wing from slipping free while he dreamed. Kili always dreamed of flying after all, his call apparent even from young age.

This night was no different, except that he didn’t fly alone.  
He never would again. Fili always by his side, a part of him, even in his wildest dreams.


End file.
